Kyle Carpenter
What makes a hero is three important traits. By doing an act voluntarily without being asked or expected to, doing it for someone else without expecting any type of gratification, and performing an act knowing the risks and consequences that may follow. Kyle Carpenter was a corporal in the Marines who risked his own life to save the life of his colleague by throwing himself on top of a live grenade. He is a hero because the act he performed was voluntary, he did it specifically for his colleague, and he knew the fatal risks that came with jumping on the live grenade.
Lance Corporal William Kyle Carpenter was born in Flowood, Mississippi on October 17, 1989. He attended W. Wyman King Academy in Batesburg, South Carolina and graduated …show more content…
It is important to understand why Carpenter was injured by a live grenade in the first place, and how that lead him to receive the Medal of Honor. Lance Corporal Carpenter and his squad were tasked to establish Patrol Base Dakota in a small village in the Karez-e Saydi area of Marjah on November 19, 2010. The next morning, his squadron was attacked by firearms, sniper fire, grenades and rockets while providing perimeter security and filling sandbags to fortify their positions at Patrol Base Dakota. Carpenter was located on top of an Afghan storage shed made of mud, straw and small timbers at Post 2. Post 2 was then struck by recoilless rifle fire. Carpenter received no injuries during this incident but two of his marine colleagues were injured. (The United States Marine Corps, n.d.) The next morning, November 21, 2010, Lance Corporal …show more content…
His injuries included entry and exit wounds in his skull, severed arteries, and collapsed lung. He was found by Private Jared Lilly, his face shredded, his right arm splintered, his right eye almost falling out and hemorrhaging in a pool of blood, gasping for air while his colleague was unconscious (Brennan, 2016). Other Marines while he was being treated reminded him of stories he told them of life back home with his family which helped stabilize him though he constantly had to be revived. He couldn’t fly back home right away for treatment so they flew him to Germany and when he was stable enough to fly back to the US, Carpenter went through cardiac arrest on the plane. He did not want to see his fellow marines because he did not want them to see him like this. His family, as well, could barely recognize him. As he got better, he could finally attempt walking. Pulled from the article “Inside The Painstaking Recovery Process of a Medal of Honor Marine” by Vanity Fair “What Jim Carpenter cannot forget is the staff at Walter Reed. ‘When I first saw Kyle, I didn’t think he would have any quality of life—living bound to a bed or a wheelchair,’ he said. ‘He kept progressing and I kept getting my son back. There’s so much weight put on the hospital staff to repair wounded people—people just torn apart—and they do it day in and day out.
What makes a hero is three important traits. By doing an act voluntarily without being asked or expected to, doing it for someone else without expecting any type of gratification, and performing an act knowing the risks and consequences that may follow. Kyle Carpenter was a corporal in the Marines who risked his own life to save the life of his colleague by throwing himself on top of a live grenade. He is a hero because the act he performed was voluntary, he did it specifically for his colleague, and he knew the fatal risks that came with jumping on the live grenade.
Lance Corporal William Kyle Carpenter was born in Flowood, Mississippi on October 17, 1989. He attended W. Wyman King Academy in Batesburg, South Carolina and graduated …show more content…
It is important to understand why Carpenter was injured by a live grenade in the first place, and how that lead him to receive the Medal of Honor. Lance Corporal Carpenter and his squad were tasked to establish Patrol Base Dakota in a small village in the Karez-e Saydi area of Marjah on November 19, 2010. The next morning, his squadron was attacked by firearms, sniper fire, grenades and rockets while providing perimeter security and filling sandbags to fortify their positions at Patrol Base Dakota. Carpenter was located on top of an Afghan storage shed made of mud, straw and small timbers at Post 2. Post 2 was then struck by recoilless rifle fire. Carpenter received no injuries during this incident but two of his marine colleagues were injured. (The United States Marine Corps, n.d.) The next morning, November 21, 2010, Lance Corporal …show more content…
His injuries included entry and exit wounds in his skull, severed arteries, and collapsed lung. He was found by Private Jared Lilly, his face shredded, his right arm splintered, his right eye almost falling out and hemorrhaging in a pool of blood, gasping for air while his colleague was unconscious (Brennan, 2016). Other Marines while he was being treated reminded him of stories he told them of life back home with his family which helped stabilize him though he constantly had to be revived. He couldn’t fly back home right away for treatment so they flew him to Germany and when he was stable enough to fly back to the US, Carpenter went through cardiac arrest on the plane. He did not want to see his fellow marines because he did not want them to see him like this. His family, as well, could barely recognize him. As he got better, he could finally attempt walking. Pulled from the article “Inside The Painstaking Recovery Process of a Medal of Honor Marine” by Vanity Fair “What Jim Carpenter cannot forget is the staff at Walter Reed. ‘When I first saw Kyle, I didn’t think he would have any quality of life—living bound to a bed or a wheelchair,’ he said. ‘He kept progressing and I kept getting my son back. There’s so much weight put on the hospital staff to repair wounded people—people just torn apart—and they do it day in and day out.